Messages from our Rabbi

Shabbat Shemot
21 Tevet 5786
January 9-10, 2026

Dear Friends,

It is always good to be together for Shabbat and tonight is no exception. Please join us to share joy being together in community, feel support from one another, and comfort for all in need. 

What does one person's presence even matter? Well, this week's parashat Shemot tells us about individuals whose actions made a difference. This week we begin reading the book of Exodus. It starts with a Pharoah who imposes ruthless laws. One is to demand all male Hebrew babies be killed at birth. The midwives to the Hebrew women, Shifra and Puah, did not follow Pharoah’s decree.

The text is unclear if they were Hebrews themselves. Hebrew or Egyptian, they knew what was right and engaged in moral obedience. They defied Pharoah’s decree.

This week we witnessed (perhaps you watched the horrendous video as did I) of an ICE officer shooting and killing ​​Renee Nicole Good in her car at a protest in Minneapolis. I have no words but urge us not to disengage.

Shifra and Puah placed their lives on the line for tzedek: justice.

Later in the Torah portion, Moses takes action when he sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave.

What are we willing to do to stand up for justice?

The Religious Action Center (part of the Union for Reform Judaism) has a training (scheduled prior to his week's tragedy) on Tuesday, January 13 at 5pm-6:30pm PT. Preparing and Responding to ICE in our communities. Click here to register How to take action for Immigration Justice. 
 

My colleague Rabbi Elle Muhlbaum explains:

“Torah presents us with these interesting scenes. Moses intervenes with the Egyptian and has to become a fugitive. The midwives intervene and are interrogated by Pharaoh. There’s a high cost in fighting their system. But I think the Torah presents us with another related concept, which is that redemption begins not in the moment when power changes hands, but when individuals refuse to cooperate with injustice.”

As Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr said, in his 1963 letter from the Birmingham jail:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

Today we can choose to be like Shifra, Puah, or Moses. None of them asked to have responsibility placed upon them but they did not shirk at taking action when they were faced with immoral behavior. May we each pursue justice. 
 

Join us for a Family Shabbat service tonight at 7pm with January Anniversary and Birthday blessings.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Dantowitz